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Record of Proceedings

Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting & Capital Budget Review – December 11, 2024

Planning Board — Wednesday, December 11, 2024
BodyStamford, Connecticut
SessionPlanning Board
DateWednesday, December 11, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:04

And you're good to go.

0:06

Okay.

0:10

Sorry, I'm still pulling up my annotated agenda, but um.

0:18

All right.

0:20

Um welcome all to the Tuesday, December 10th 2024 meeting of the Stanford Planning Board.

0:28

Um, I am Jennifer Godzeno, vice chair of the board, um serving as chair today as uh uh our uh chair is uh here but feeling a bit under the weather.

0:41

Um we also have Jay Chapter, our chair, um Ravi Suberman, uh regular member and chat salad alternate.

0:53

Um our first order of business is that um we um we need to approve the planning board meeting minutes from November 19th.

1:12

Um everyone who is on the call was present at the time.

1:17

Um so um like to call for a motion to uh approve the minutes.

1:27

All right, first from Ravi, second from chat.

1:30

Um all in favor of passing the minutes unanimous.

1:36

Thank you.

1:39

Um our next item is that um as was mentioned uh on a previous uh meeting.

1:48

Uh one of our regular members who served as our secretary has since uh stepped down because they were elected to the Board of Education.

1:56

I wish them well in that position.

1:59

Um, but as such, we do need to elect a new planning board secretary.

2:03

Um Ravi, as our other full board member.

2:08

I am wondering if you would like to be elected to be our planning board secretary.

2:18

I'm just kidding.

2:19

I think I'm the only one who can do it.

2:22

That is true.

2:25

And can we have your willingness?

2:27

Can we have the assistant uh chairman and the second agree in the same person?

2:31

We cannot wait.

2:31

So Jennifer, you cannot do it.

2:33

You can I cannot serve more than one.

2:36

No problem, I'll do it.

2:37

Yeah.

2:38

So maybe you can just uh local, you know, we can pass base tomorrow day after and tell me what exactly I need to do.

2:48

So the responsibilities.

2:49

Yeah.

2:50

Yeah.

2:50

Um and I'll just, you know, I'll describe briefly, and you saw um Prasad starting to uh step into these duties.

2:57

Um the main one in the um during the meeting is that whenever there is a public hearing, um, we do need for the secretary or you know, if the secretary is absent, another representative to read uh the meeting notice into the record.

3:13

Um but uh that's kind of the main duty.

3:16

Um the minutes are compiled with support from staff in the land use bureau.

3:22

So your name will be listed as secretary.

3:25

Um, but you're not you're not responsible for doing the administrative work of compiling the minutes.

3:32

I like it, no problem.

3:35

Okay.

3:35

And just want to note that uh Bill Levin has joined us at 636.

3:40

Um Bill is one of our alternates.

3:43

Um so uh I would like to call for a motion to nominate Ravi to be our secretary.

3:53

Uh first it by Jay.

3:57

Seconded by chat.

3:59

Um all in favor, please raise your hand.

4:04

Thank you, Jennifer.

4:05

You can all right.

4:08

Um, so it is unanimous.

4:12

Uh thank you very much, Ravi, for stepping into this role.

4:19

Um so the next order of business is a request for authorization supplemental capital project request for stormwater pump stations.

4:33

Uh project CP 5241.

4:37

Um and the amount requested is 250,000 for capital improvements at three stormwater pump stations that make up the stormwater hurricane barrier.

4:51

Uh Lindsay, do we have a presenter on this?

4:56

Um Ann Brown is on, so I'm gonna bring her up.

4:59

Yep, there she goes.

5:00

uh for stormwater pump stations uh project cp 5241 um and the amount requested is 250 000 for capital improvements um at three stormwater pump stations that make up the stormwater hurricane barrier uh lindsay do we have a presenter on this um anne brown is on so i'm gonna bring her up yep there she goes promoting you to panelists now and she's rejoining our only other attendee and you should be able to unmute yourself and uh put on your camera if you said yes hi thank you so much thanks everybody all right um if you could just um introduce yourself for the record and then go ahead and share i'm I'm Ann Brown I'm the uh supervising engineer at the WPCA um so this first request for stormwater pump stations for the hurricane barrier the WPCA maintains the hurricane barrier and the three pump stations that make up uh that barrier um we're asking for 250 000 we have to maintain the pumps the any kind of valves any kind of you know any uh standby generators anything like that that uh has to do with the stormwater pump stations so uh we actually neglected to put this into the previous um um requests so we're just asking for it uh for a um an appropriation of 250 000 we do have actually um right now a a pump that is out to be repaired so we are going to be using the this uh funding um for those kinds of items any questions from the board chat yeah and just just one and um as a newcomer to the board maybe you can help me explain so um this is an appropriation request that's uh being submitted tonight for the 2425 fiscal year was anything budgeted for this for the 2425 fiscal year no that's what I said we we we just omitted it we neglected we just missed it and we did not put it in the budget okay um it was just a a miss um you know yeah so do these funds come from some other pot then so to speak well I think they go back to the city whatever we use we um we uh get reim you know reimbursement from the city I think you would have to ask either Lou Castle if it's the engineering budget or um uh Tyler uh for stormwater budget but I know that um we just do the we maintain the pumps we maintain them we have 23 other sanitary sewer pump stations that we maintain so it just seems um you know that we kind of are familiar with it are familiar with the workings of them and the WPCA maintains them okay thank you um okay uh so then just question for clarification so unlike other um allocations for WPCA this one is not coming from the WPCA reserve or bonds um but out of uh the city's operations correct um I don't know Tony do you know exactly what it um where it comes from what fund it comes from I see Tony Romano's on um I just know we do have a capital uh capital project that we charge to and then I believe that gets reimbursed by the city oh maybe tony's not on any longer I saw his picture up there a minute ago so I don't know what fund they take it yeah okay um well and are there any other clarifying questions on this item um do we feel prepared in Tony's absence to call this to vote or do we want more information well I think it'll be nice we got a clarification as tool that exactly this money is coming from I I think I understand what Anna's saying we need a confirmation from Tony that don't have the budget to support this right um well so the the the two items after this are from WPCA funds rather than city bond funds um so can we can I ask for a motion to move um items two and three up and then we can uh circle back to item one once Tony is back on okay so motion from chat to move those two items up in the agenda second from Ravi all in favor thank you um so the second item is the sanitary sewer rehabilitation um and the request is for 35000 so this is a um capital project it's uh reoccurring funds we ask for this every year in our capital budget um this year we asked for funding and we had specific projects for our capital budget um for a for uh repair or replacement of a force main um lining we have a study that we do that uh removes the infiltration and info and I I study uh from our lines and um but we also need um

10:00

So this is a um capital project.

10:02

It's uh reoccurring funds.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Capital Budget█████████████████████████████████████37%
Facilities Management███████████████15%
Water And Wastewater Management███████████11%
Budget Equity Analysis█████5%
Procedural████4%
Stormwater Management███3%
Public Engagement███3%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Parks and Recreation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Stamford Planning Board Regular Meeting & Capital Budget Review – December 11, 2024

Note: The agenda and transcript indicate the meeting was held on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, but the user specifies the date as December 11, 2024. This summary uses the specified date while noting the discrepancy.

The Stamford Planning Board convened on December 11, 2024, at 6:30 PM via Zoom under Vice Chair Jennifer Godzeno (acting chair) due to Chair Jay Chapter being under the weather. Members present: Jay Chapter, Ravi Suberman, Chet Salad (alternate), and Bill Levin (alternate, joined later). The meeting covered approval of minutes, election of a secretary, three supplemental capital appropriation requests, and the beginning of the capital budget review process.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of the November 19, 2024 Planning Board meeting minutes: Unanimously approved.
  • Election of Planning Board Secretary: Ravi Suberman was nominated and elected unanimously to fill the vacancy left by a member who stepped down after being elected to the Board of Education.

Discussion Items

  • Supplemental Capital Request – Storm Water Pump Stations (CP5241, $250,000): Ann Brown (WPCA supervising engineer) presented the request for capital improvements at the three pump stations of the Stamford Hurricane Barrier (Dyke Lane, Wampanaw, Cummings). The request was omitted from the previous budget. Funding source: city operations/stormwater management. Board members sought clarification on the funding source, and after Tony Romano (city staff) confirmed it was a city bond item, the board approved the motion unanimously.
  • Supplemental Capital Request – Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation (CP4242, $350,000): Ann Brown explained this recurring annual request from the WPCA reserve fund for ongoing repairs, lining, and manhole replacements. The board discussed the nature of capital vs. expenditure and approved the motion unanimously.
  • Supplemental Capital Request – Perna Lane Area Sewers (C22046, $2,000,000): This project will provide sewers to ~150 homes north of the Merritt Parkway. Unforeseen rock conditions led to change orders, requiring additional WPCA bond funds. The board questioned the debt capacity for WPCA bonds and the project timeline (completion expected fall 2025). The request was approved unanimously.

Capital Budget Review

  • The board began a line-by-line review of the capital budget submissions, aiming to produce a recommendation to the Mayor by January 7, 2025. They discussed methodologies: starting from the bottom (lowest priority) vs. building from the top. A tiering system (tier 1, 2, 3) was proposed to categorize priorities.
  • The board reviewed several departments: Board of Education, Engineering, Operations & Maintenance Facilities, Land Use, and others. Key decisions included:
    • Board of Education: Approved $500k (safety/security), $400k (weatherproofing), $700k (HVAC/site drainage) as tier 1; deferred $4.3M (long-term facilities) and $1.5M (athletic fields) to later review.
    • Engineering: Approved $978,750 for Mill Road over Brookbridge (50/50 state match) and $978,750 for High Ridge Road (state match) as tier 1. Animal shelter ($500k) placed as tier 2 pending information. Citywide storm drains set at $950k (tier 1). Citywide roadway correction zeroed (tier 3) due to existing unfunded balance. Cummings Marina Restoration zeroed (tier 3).
    • Land Use: Citywide tree inventory ($100k) approved as tier 1. City fields needs assessment set at $100k (tier 2). GIS set at $75k (tier 1).
    • Operations & Maintenance: Many items discussed, with partial allocations or zeroed due to existing balances. Examples: garage doors ($50k, tier 2), flooring ($50k, tier 2), ADA compliance ($50k, tier 1), life safety systems ($80k, tier 1), heating system replacement ($200k, tier 1), energy/sustainability initiatives ($400k, tier 1).
  • The review was not completed; the board agreed to a subcommittee (Chat and Jay, with Ravi providing input) to refine the recommendations and schedule a special meeting on December 18 or 19, 2024, to finalize the capital budget.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous approval of three supplemental capital appropriation requests: $250,000 (stormwater pump stations), $350,000 (sanitary sewer rehab), $2,000,000 (Perna Lane sewers).
  • Election of Ravi Suberman as Planning Board Secretary.
  • Capital budget review process: Established a tiering system, partial allocations, and a subcommittee to pre-review remaining items. Special meeting tentatively set for December 18 or 19, 2024.
  • The board noted the safe debt limit may be revised (currently ~$43 million) and requested early notification from Tony Romano.
  • UrbanPlan Workshop for Land Use Commissioners scheduled for January 28, 2025 (in-person, all-day training).

Meeting Transcript

And you're good to go. Okay. Sorry, I'm still pulling up my annotated agenda, but um. All right. Um welcome all to the Tuesday, December 10th 2024 meeting of the Stanford Planning Board. Um, I am Jennifer Godzeno, vice chair of the board, um serving as chair today as uh uh our uh chair is uh here but feeling a bit under the weather. Um we also have Jay Chapter, our chair, um Ravi Suberman, uh regular member and chat salad alternate. Um our first order of business is that um we um we need to approve the planning board meeting minutes from November 19th. Um everyone who is on the call was present at the time. Um so um like to call for a motion to uh approve the minutes. All right, first from Ravi, second from chat. Um all in favor of passing the minutes unanimous. Thank you. Um our next item is that um as was mentioned uh on a previous uh meeting. Uh one of our regular members who served as our secretary has since uh stepped down because they were elected to the Board of Education. I wish them well in that position. Um, but as such, we do need to elect a new planning board secretary. Um Ravi, as our other full board member. I am wondering if you would like to be elected to be our planning board secretary. I'm just kidding. I think I'm the only one who can do it. That is true. And can we have your willingness? Can we have the assistant uh chairman and the second agree in the same person? We cannot wait. So Jennifer, you cannot do it. You can I cannot serve more than one. No problem, I'll do it. Yeah. So maybe you can just uh local, you know, we can pass base tomorrow day after and tell me what exactly I need to do. So the responsibilities. Yeah. Yeah. Um and I'll just, you know, I'll describe briefly, and you saw um Prasad starting to uh step into these duties. Um the main one in the um during the meeting is that whenever there is a public hearing, um, we do need for the secretary or you know, if the secretary is absent, another representative to read uh the meeting notice into the record. Um but uh that's kind of the main duty. Um the minutes are compiled with support from staff in the land use bureau. So your name will be listed as secretary. Um, but you're not you're not responsible for doing the administrative work of compiling the minutes. I like it, no problem. Okay. And just want to note that uh Bill Levin has joined us at 636. Um Bill is one of our alternates. Um so uh I would like to call for a motion to nominate Ravi to be our secretary. Uh first it by Jay. Seconded by chat. Um all in favor, please raise your hand. Thank you, Jennifer. You can all right. Um, so it is unanimous.

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